The two lives twist and turn as opposing armies shatter and the disintegration of the British Empire quickens. Complexities of loyalty and honour provoke them. After unwittingly betraying the man she loves, Vivian journeys to Peshawar to search for elusive treasure within an ancient Buddhist stupa. Here she encounters the strict code of conduct and intense allegiances of Pathan social structure as well as inflexible British rules. Qayyum struggles with issues of integrity and attachment as he quits his regiment, simultaneously loving and despising the British and their king–emperor. He substitutes one army for another, joining Ghaffar Khan, the Frontier Gandhi, on his peaceful path to Indian independence.

A red-faced Britisher in Peshawar declares ‘We are here to civilise, not lose our civility.’ The appalling massacre of 1930 was hardly evidence of that. British tanks fired on a non-violent protest, killing scores of people. The civilising mission is the Peshawar Museum where a Gandharan Buddhist sculpture conveys a serenity found in neither pulsing bazaar nor ordered cantonment.

Shamsie writes without rancour in a way that is both subjective and detached. Her research is impressive, and her deep understanding of history is passionate because it is her own. In a line from Herodotus to the bards of the Qissa Khawani, she is another great teller of the tales of the sub-continent.